Chapter One: Solace (IC)

[Xgya]

Sorel Laumpsur

After a long day's walk, the group finally reaches a mountaintop. The young healer realizes he's been walking much faster than he thought he was, and drops to the ground, sitting on a nearby rock.

"I was so focused on our guide I did not notice how far I walked. My body finally caught up to me."

Sorel watches his companions' eyes widen as he does his best to see what they're looking at.

"What seems to be troubling you? Is it my turn to miss seeing something that should be evident?"

[RolandDeschain]

Kawali

"Come, friend, let me show you."

Leading Sorel over to a granite outcropping, the elf points to the horizon, "Look to the ground beneath the far storm clouds."

After a few moments of silence, "Seems the gods you've such faith in wanted us to lay witness to...that. Vast forces of some kind moving across the land; headed where I do not know. It can not be coincidence, though, that such a thing is revealed to us hard upon the heels of confirming the presence of those....lizardmen."

[RolandDeschain]

Kawali

A low growl issues from Kaishi's throat as she stares intently at the campfires on the horizon. The elf kneels down and rubs her ears, "Big bad hound hey? What are you going to do girl? Take on an army?" He ruffles her pointy ears playful, "Get. Go hunt or something."

Still alert, Kaishi takes a couple of steps backwards before huffing loudly, walking over and throwing herself down at Sorel's feet.

Standing up with a wry shake of his head the elf turns to his companions, "I would say this changes things significantly, especially for those that thought we should perhaps swing around to the north." Motioning to the distant fires, "Incidentally that's the direction that Sorel and I came from....coincidence?" Tapping the cleric's staff with his fingers, "For some reason I'm dubious".

Reaching into his travel-worn cloak three separate times, he pulls out trail rations and hands them out; then pulls out a flask of sugared, hot tea to pass around. "This foul weather may hamper our movements, but I believe we are down to two choices," pointing down the river valley toward Gateway, "South," turning and pointing back east toward Solace, "or East through this pass that Knotwood speaks of."

Looking at each of his gathered compatriots in turn, "I know little of the lands or settlements to the South, but for my part, that's where I cast my vote. What say you?"

Spoiler: OC

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Kawali collapses in exhaustion, unaccustomed to speaking so much.

[LoyalPaladin]

Prayer's Eye Peak, Abanasinia

While you talk about plans, the White Stag waits patiently on an outcropping of rock towards the side of the peak opposite that which you scaled.

[Xgya]

Sorel Laumpsur

Sorel leans down and scratches Kaishi's ears, deep in thought. Wyloh comes up and receives his own share of scratches, though they promptly resume to chasing one another.

"The Old Gods on our side, I say we follow our guide. If we have been shown this coming army, it was because we had to know. This much, I know.

As for our next destination, I say we keep following. While this might lead on to danger, the white stag seems to be going further down the path, perhaps towards Knotwood's path, or some other secret location. In either case, we have traveled for a few hours without encountering anything dangerous by following it, so I say it would be wise to keep doing so.

I don't think any of us could take on an army, but neither do I think that this army would expect us going towards them. We might encounter advance scouts, but we have proven capable of dispatching those at least. As much as I shun battles, these lizardfolk look more like magical constructs than true living beings. Turning to stone as soon as they stop breathing is not natural by any length."

Sorel touches the full length of the staff, the true appearance of a single block of blue crystal shining through for a second.

"This artifact would be of such importance to warrant moving an army around? Surely they could not! I am but a simple doctor, I am not worthy of such attention."

He turns towards the stag

"Why would I, a humble street mender, be chosen by the Valiant Warrior? Surely a more educated person, someone with actual magical power or talents, or a proud, stalwart warrior would have carried it to its destination far better than I?"

[LoyalPaladin]

Prayer's Eye Peak, Abanasinia

Should Knotwood feel inclined to share, he does have a map of the area surrounding Prayer's Eye Peak. He also knows that the direction the stag is heading in is known as Darken Wood.

[TankLaser007]

Lev

The wizard declines the offer of food or drink, instead surveying the lands from their vantage. And spending time watching he home. Almost absent mindedly he asks, "The stag is still here? Where?" never taking his eyes off of their modest house aloft in the Valenwoods.

[RolandDeschain]

Kawali

Kaishi leaps up and comes to stand near Kawali momentarily before whining at Sorel's retreating figure, "Or I suppose we could continue following the stag."

A considerable distance behind and bringing up the rear once more, the elf pulls his cloak close around him to keep dry and slips silently through the woods picking his way down the mountainside.

[Thokk_Smash]

Knotwood Thistledown

"You can't see it? It's right over there!" Knotwood says in a shrill voice, helpfully pointing at the stag. He doesn't seem to realize the impact his words may have. "It's all white, and glow-y, and looks so soft to pet!"

"Oh, I know where it's heading!" he continues, as he dives a hand into his map pouch. He inspects the map quickly before nodding. "Yup, it's the Darken Woods! Awesome, that's gonna be cool!"

Without seeming to care about the Woods' reputation, he happily puts the map back and traipses after the stag.

[LoyalPaladin]

Prayer's Eye Peak, Abanasinia

An autumn breeze carries the sharp, fresh scents of fallen leaves and cooling air. To the southwest, the white-capped outline of Prayer’s Eye Peak soars in the distance. Barely visible from here, a sharp crack splits the peak, the two halves pressed together like two hands in a worshipful pose.

As Knotwood traipses towards the stag, it behaves as it did before. Slowly staying out of reach, leading you down the other side and towards Darken Wood.

Spoiler: Knotwood

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Your knowledge check reveals much! (You should've seen what a 30 nets you.)

Darken Wood
No light source, not even a magical one, can cast light in Darken Wood farther than 40 ft. (20 ft. at night); the air hangs thick and heavy, seeming to diffuse even the brightest illumination. Neither elvensight nor darkvision work inside these woods, so even elves and dwarves entering must rely on ordinary vision. All Spot checks are made with a -5 penalty, even within the radius of illumination of a light source.

It's said that only the dead reside there, and that anyone foolish enough to enter, will join them in eternal servitude to the master of the forest.

[Xgya]

Sorel Laumpsur

Sorel looks a bit wary after hearing the name of the forest they are visiting. He presses on his staff, getting up.

"Darken Wood. The place sounds eerie already. Then again, it is said, with much wisdom, that in the deepest darkness lie the brightest lights.

Our guide willing, to the eerie woods we will go.
In any case, with enemies at our backs and an army up north, our options are few.

In either case, we have dawdled enough for now, so I suggest we move onwards."

[TankLaser007]

Lev

"Darken Wood." he said to himself as he thought...
And all time staggered at the forest edge..

Spoiler: Knowledge Time

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What do we Know about Darken Wood:

Knowledge - Arcana - (1d20+13)[24]
Knowledge - Nature - (1d20+7)[17]
Knowledge - History - (1d20+13)[27]
Knowledge - Geography - (1d20+7)[8]
Knowledge - Local - (1d20+11)[15]

+5 to anything that Collector of Stories might apply to

[RolandDeschain]

Kawali

When the party enters the woods, Kawali calls Kaishi in close telling her to "heel", then unslings his longbow, Moonglory that glows with soft white light.

[Scheming Wizard]

Gargram Heavyhand

Gargram was a dwarf conflicted. On one hand he was in the best shape of his life. An impressive feat for a dwarf that had turned 214 years old several months ago. The magic belt he wore magnified his strength, and made him stronger than even young warriors in their prime. It's sudden reactivation had been an unexpected boon at a time when he had been considering retirement. On the other hand the belt could not rejuvenate his soul. He had seen many wondrous things in the century he had been adventuring across the world of Krynn. What weighed on his heart was not his achievements, but the horrific things he had witnessed as well.

As the oldest member of the group he felt the need to train and warn the others about the things that would inevitably confront them and he gave guidance and advice where needed, but there were some lessons only experience and tragedy can teach.

Armies moving about weren't a good sign, but it wasn't that unusual. The Goblin and Ogre wars hadn't been that long ago. Even the Lizard beasts they had fought weren't the thing that alarmed him the most. Magic could do all kinds of terrible things when applied to monstrous flesh. A wizard must have experimented on Crocodiles or some other unfortunate reptiles. Although the fact that they turned to stone upon death alarmed him. Stone was sacred to the dwarves. It was the material Reoryx had decided to craft the world from. Wizards should refrain from profaning such things.

What worried him the most is that the group had elected to follow some kind of magical ghost deer which he couldn't see. Either the staff was beginning to cause the party to hallucinate that which wasn't there, or it really was some kind of spirit appearing to them. He was concerned that the spirit had appeared to the youngest members of the group rather than to himself. His Nan had always told him that spirits appeared to those closest to death. A spirit appearing to him would be unwelcome, but not altogether unexpected. He was already a decade older than his father had been when he passed away. The old passing onto Reoryx's realm was simply the way of things. It was the idea that he would outlive the rest of his companions that truly worried him the most.

He elected not to share his worries with the rest of the group. Especially Knotwood who was overjoyed to be chasing whatever it was he saw.


"Ah dinnae ken why you want to go following a ghost deer into a right spooky wood. I've never heard a bard's song that goes an the party ventured into a cursed wood an they met a bonnie unicorn who gave em all free meat pies with a side of tatties for their trouble. It seems to me to be a right glaekit thing to do."

[Snowbluff]

Team Leader Kary AKA Morgana.

"Okay, that be looking like a bit o' nightmare right here. Just ta be clear, we be following a stag that I cannot see, into a wood that be too dark to fight in, full o' creatures neither Knotty or I be much good for fighting? Suffice it to say, I am discinclined to acquiesce to your request." Kary crosses her arms. "I'm more incline to think whatever god there be, they be wantin' ye dead."

[PallentisLunam]

Oreid Flauss

Oreid had spent the time during the pause obsessively polishing his shield and wiping goopy green blood off of his hammer. While doing so he had been thinking to himself and staring at the stag. Well, you always wanted to be in the old stories. Now they've come to life and look at you. Second guessing yourself like some silly kid. Your friends need you and so you're going to help them. Even with, Oreid shudders in a way that has nothing to do with the cold or the wind, Even with scary lizard monster things and creepy forests. Taking a deep breath Oreid settles his resolve. At least the monsters were fun to fight.

When the party started moving again Oreid collected up his kit and stuffed it all into his pack, before hauling his considerable bulk upright. Donning his helmet and shouldering his gear the giant looks between his brother, Kary, and the stag. Thinking about Kary's words Oreid wonders if they really are doing the right thing. "Are we gonna be okay, Lev?" he asks in a low voice.

[TankLaser007]

Lev, In the Stag's Wake

Lev placed a hand on his brother's sturdy shoulder, walking next to him but perhaps half a step behind.

"Are we ever really 'OK' brother mine?" he says with a half smile that for an instant calls to mind their sister Kit. "I take comfort in the fact that it is you and our pure hearted friend Knotwood that seem to see this stag."

He leans in close and whispers, "Had it been Karry and I, well then perhaps that would be worrisome."

"No. I don't think we need to worry, Yet. Even should we enter that wood..." his voice trails for a bit. "...if it is in the company of that stag, then I wager we are safe,"

"I am more concerned with these strange creatures. In the robes of Seekers, and they had more robes as well. While possible they slew some or forged them themselves the fact that it is clear that the Seekers are working with goblins and that the goblins the others encountered mentioned these 'lizardmen' leads me to fear that these Seekers are something far more sinister than simple charlatans. Worse still father went to speak with their High Theocrat in Haven." Lev's head turns back towards the direction of Solace.

He then leans closer to his 'little' brother, "If we encounter them again, see if you can't hold one for me, only a few moments should be enough for me to get what we need. You needn't actually grab it just keep it busy and alive until I've finished" he looks ahead to the others, Knotwood and Sturm, he couldn't help but smile as he watched the kender. The plainsman Sorel and his elven bodyguard Kawali and the hound trotting alongside them.

Kary, suddenly sombre. Something seemed to have happened with her in their time apart. She was still Kary, or 'Morganna', but there seemed to be some shadow hanging over her. Perhaps more would be revealed as they travelled. Gargram ever steady and stalwart -- although he seemed a bit off-put as well traipsing all over the wildlands after some invisible ghost deer.

What a fine group they made. The wizard hoped they would still be the same once night came.

[PallentisLunam]

Oreid is both comforted for the moment and disturbed for the future by his brothers words. Still, the big guy isn't much of a planner or a thinker, so he does his best to let go of any apprehension in order to focus on the tasks at hand.

Oreid brightens considerably at Lev's assignment. "You can count on me!" he says, perhaps in a voice that is a little too loud and with a series of nods that are a little too vigorous.

[LoyalPaladin]

Darken Wood, Abanasinia

As you enter the forest, you travel only a few hundred feet before you realize that you are not alone. Unlike before however, the Stag bounds off far into the forest without you.

A troop of spectral minions, consisting of one captain and ten soldiers, has crept up on you and has you surrounded. While living, you might have heard them, but in death, they're oddly silent.

"Go BaCk, MoRtAlS. LeAvE ThIs PlAcE." The captain says, in a distant voice, sounding almost like it is being shouted down a long, long tunnel. After staring for a minute or so at you, he adds one last thing. "WhAt Is YoUr BuSiNesS hErE?"

[Xgya]

Sorel Laumpsur

Sorel grips nervously at his staff, and barely murmurs "We were following the White Stag into your woods. Didn't mean to disturb anyone..." before turning to Kary for support, and Lev for advice.

[TankLaser007]

Lev

Not knowing where the stag is in relation to their party, Lev dares to speak never-the-less.

"We bear you nor this wood no ill, we are here at the seeming behest of the White Stag who has guided us here for some purpose known to it and the gods of old alone. We beg you leave us as we have come, in peace."

Spoiler: Knowledge Check

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Knowledge - Religion to ID these Spirits - (1d20+16)[26]

[PallentisLunam]

Oreid

Snatching his hammer from his belt Oreid shifts to the outside of the group trying to put himself between as many of the spirits and as many of his fellows as possible. His hand trembles visibly, not from his usual excitement but from cold fear. A sweat breaks out on his forehead and he silently thanks the confining steel of his helm for obscuring it. Every muscle in the big brute's body tenses as he waits for something to happen. His eyes bounce from the ghosts, to the way the party came, to his companions, and back to the ghosts. Can I even hurt these things? Maybe if we break out and run for the edge of the forest. I've got to try and keep everybody safe, however I can.

Spoiler: OoC

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It was said that those of us of Lawful Good alignment had a better connection to the Stag, any chance that Oreid can still sense it?

[RolandDeschain]

Kawali Dawnspringer

As the spirits emerge from the woods, Kaishi startles into the elf's legs nearly tripping him. For the second time in one day, his heart hammers in his chest.

No sound, no scent...no form. It seems there are yet more things in this world of which you know nothing. These, even more terrifying than the last.

Patting the hound's head, "Easy girl." Kawali strides forward with Kaishi in tow on shaky legs at first, coming to a stop next to Sorel, and addressing the spirit Captain, "It is as the other have stated, my friend's faith in the old gods was seemingly rewarded by the appearance of the White Stag of the Old Believers. Whatever or whoever it was or is, wanted us to follow it here. It has already lead us to one revelation, and now that it has fled, I might presume it wanted us to meet...you."

[Scheming Wizard]

"The ghost deer has led us to ghost people."

Gargram shouts his next words to the ghost people rather than his companions.

"We just be passing through laddie we don't want any trouble with spirit folk."

[LoyalPaladin]

Darken Wood, Abanasinia

At the mention of the Stag, the commander yells to three of his men. "After it! Do not let it escape!" To which they respond and chase in the direction they think it went, their scale male and shields clanking against each other loudly.

Sorel also feels uneasy, as the commander's glowing orange eyes linger a little too long on the staff. But, seeing it as its mundane oaken form, his gaze moves on. The minions say nothing for a short while, but continue to suspiciously look you all over, at least you think that's what they're doing.

Spoiler: Lev

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You're Knowledge (Arcana) tells you that this is a very powerful necromancy effect, but it has light enchantment qualities as well. You know that these are Spectral Minions and they are forever bound here until they complete a certain task, but they most likely double as guardians of the forest.

[Xgya]

Sorel Laumpsur

Still trembling, Sorel nonetheless manages to regain composure enough to make his voice heard.

"Is there a reason you need to speak with the stag? Do you have any idea why it would have guided us here? Do you know its purpose?
Have you ever met it?"

Then, realizing WHO he's asking questions to, he calms down, backs away behind Kaishi, but still manages to ask:
"Who are...were you?"

Spoiler: Skill Checks

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Knowledge(Religion): (1d20+9)[12]
Diplomacy:(1d20+14)[16]

[RolandDeschain]

Kawali Dawnspringer

Listening to the three spirits *CLANK* away, the elf tilts his head to the side for a moment. Odd, that. Suddenly not so silent.

Kaishi stands tall before Sorel, her hackles slowly rising to form a prickly ridge along her nape and spine. The elf suddenly turns on his heel, and begins walking back the way the party came from.

Spoiler: OC

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Will walk right through the encircling ring of spirits unless stopped in some way.

[LoyalPaladin]

Darken Woods, Abanasinia

The lead spectral minion stares coldly at Sorel. "We do not know the Stag's purpose. Only that we are doomed to hunt it for all of eternity." A tinge of anger is in his voice. "How do you hunt something you cannot see?" He ignores the second part of the question.

Kawali is left free to leave, should he choose so.

[PallentisLunam]

Oreid Flauss

Torn by indecision Oreid looks deeper into the pitch black forest where the great stag bounded away. He then glances back towards Kawali. Safety or something more. Oreid shakes his head trying to get a handle on his fear. "Lev?"

[Scheming Wizard]

Gargram Heavyhand in Finding Spirit Deer

"Well since ye be spirits your selves I am assuming ye can touch the spirit deer. And seeing and how some of us can see the deer it seems we be fated to work together in catching it."

Gargam can't help but hide a subtle look of concern at those who can see the deer.